A great graduation ceremony takes a ton of work—and as a facility manager at a high school or college, you know this well.To pull off a top-notch ceremony, you must carefully tend to every detail, from setting up to tearing down, managing communications and invitations, delivering speeches, and taking photos. So, how do the safety and cleanliness of your facility come into play? If you haven’t yet, you may want to hire a team to execute industry-leading commercial cleaning services before your graduation ceremony—and wow your students, faculty, and parents. Let’s talk about which commercial cleaning services you should consider before your graduating class flips their tassels this spring.
1. Event Coordination
As you’re vetting companies to help you with graduate services, consider the actual production of the graduation ceremony. Event coordination is no small feat, so you’ll want to bring on a team to help you with overseeing all of the details. With such a large event, it’s easy to overlook a few things, which is why an event coordination team is crucial.
Unlike event planning, which involves tasks like scouting venue locations, sending invitations, contacting sponsors, and catering, event coordination is more about managing the event before, during, and after it takes place—which brings us to our next two services you should consider before your graduation ceremony this year.
2. Setup
Part of an event coordinator’s responsibility includes tending to details like seating, tables, technology, and other materials. By hiring this type of help, you can ensure that every guest has a seat to sit in, every speaker can be heard on the microphone system, and students, staff, and parents are adequately fed. The coordinator in this role is partly concerned with the functional (like having tables set up to hold diplomas) and partly concerned with the aesthetic (like ensuring your school’s colors are represented on tables, chairs, and signage).
Hiring a coordinator to help you with event setup will serve you well. Typically, the person or team assisting with this will come to your school’s gymnasium, theater, auditorium, or wherever the ceremony will take place for an initial site visit. Then, they’ll be back on the day before and the day of the event to ensure everything is set up and running smoothly.
3. Teardown
When it comes to your graduation ceremony, just as important as a setup is a teardown. After all, once such a large event has finished, you can count on plenty of debris that will need clearing so you can make way for your next event.
From paper programs strewn across the floor to rogue balloons and confetti or overflowing trash cans and recycling bins, you will likely need assistance to get the space cleared and cleaned.
4. Janitorial Services
Remeber that while you should definitely use commercial cleaning services on your gymnasium, auditorium, theater, or other event space, you should also consider the rest of your building. Often, especially if your graduation ceremony is taking place in your school, students and their guests will be wandering the halls, peeking into classrooms, using the bathrooms, and more. School events are an optimal time for students to show their parents around the facility, and some guests may be seeing the inside of the school for the first time. As a facility manager, you’ll want to feel proud of the building you present to your graduation guests.
Janitorial services may include day-of cleaning services, vacuuming and wet mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms, removing trash and recycling, and keeping cafeterias, locker rooms, and classrooms in excellent condition. If you don’t already have a trusted janitorial team in place (or if you’ve noticed that your cleaning team is leaving a lot to be desired), you might consider hiring a team from a company like The Budd Group to keep your school looking pristine all year long.
5. Disinfection Services
With so many people under one roof in your facility, proper disinfection is vital. From everyday germs, viruses, and bacteria to COVID-19, influenza, and RSV, there are a host of threats to students, staff, and guests in the form of illnesses. And with so much traffic in your space during a big event like a graduation ceremony, these risks only increase through surface contact and airborne means.
Hiring a company to disinfect your school with the use of CDC-compliant cleaning chemicals can help mitigate these risks so that no one is exposed to harmful contaminants at your event. The Budd Group uses an antimicrobial barrier on high touch-point areas to guard against viruses and bacteria, as well as misting and electrostatic spray disinfection to clean and protect hard-to-reach, frequently touched surfaces with environmentally safe disinfecting spray. We also offer remediation disinfection and cleaning for areas suspected or confirmed to be contaminated. Our highly trained team members wear PPE (personal protective equipment) during this process. Even simpler measures like offering disinfectant wipes or hand sanitizer stations at your event can help protect your guests’ health and well-being.
6. Deep Cleaning
While daily janitorial services are certainly critical for any educational facility, additional school cleaning services like deep cleaning may also be necessary from time to time. And before an event like your upcoming graduation ceremony, deep cleaning your floors, windows, walls, baseboards, and other surfaces and spaces can help keep your school looking appealing for everyone who walks in the door.
7. Floor Care
Floor care services might include more basic services like vacuuming and mopping, shampooing or steam cleaning carpets to remove stains, or waxing and polishing your tile floors to keep them shiny. Additionally, a team of floor experts can help identify issues and make repairs on your floors.
Even one cracked or broken tile or one buckled floorboard could present tripping hazards—the last thing you want for any students or staff, and certainly not for any elderly or disabled guests that will be using your floors on graduation day. So if you haven’t received specialty floor care in a while, or if you’re noticing any areas of disrepair, these will be of the utmost importance to fix before your event.
8. Landscaping
In addition to all of these indoor school cleaning services, don’t forget about the aesthetic upkeep of your outdoor spaces—especially if your graduation ceremony will take place outside.
Landscaping services like those offered from The Budd Group could include commercial landscape solutions like turf management, renovation design and installation, fertilization and pest management, soil testing, snow and ice removal, and water management. Keep your educational facility’s grounds looking bright, healthy, and inviting with climate-appropriate flora that help create a beautiful atmosphere.
9. Pressure Washing and Painting
Pressure washing the interior and exterior walls can help remove nasty dirt, grime, mold, and mildew from your facility. Not only is periodic pressure washing a good idea to keep your buildings looking fresh and new, but it can also ensure your occupants are safe from harmful molds and toxins.
Has your facility been painted recently, or are you noticing chipped or faded paint throughout your buildings? You might opt to start with a pressure washing surface to remove surface-level dirt and grime, then give your interior and exterior walls a fresh coat of paint to liven things up and keep your school looking its best.
10. Maintenance and Repairs
Last on our list—but certainly not least—are maintenance and repairs. If you’re a facility manager at an educational institution, your utmost priority is keeping your staff and students safe. Even one small electrical outage or faulty plumbing issue could put your building’s occupants in jeopardy. So if you haven’t done a comprehensive audit of your facility’s assets recently, consider getting this done before your graduation ceremony.
You can conduct this type of audit independently, but you may want to consider outsourcing this work. Experts from a facility maintenance company like The Budd Group will be able to spot issues and propose solutions, helping to plan and execute each step. From general maintenance of the facility to HVAC and plumbing systems, electrical and lighting systems, doors and locks, and more, you’ll want to remedy any issues and make sure your school’s staff and students are always kept safe.
Bring on The Budd Group for Your Graduation Ceremony Services
With all of the services we’ve discussed, it can feel overwhelming to hire a variety of different contractors and teams to complete this work. Fortunately, when working with The Budd Group, you won’t have to. We’re your one-stop shop for facilities management, offering a suite of comprehensive cleaning, repair, and maintenance services on a one-time or ongoing basis. Our team of over 4,000 highly trained service associates is trained in the use of industry-leading technology and equipment to complete each and every job.
For 60 years, we’ve been serving clients across many verticals—including educational facility managers—throughout the Southeast United States. We even offer a “Make It Right Guarantee,” which is our guarantee that if you’re not completely satisfied with the level of service you received, we will make it right! Right now, we’re offering a spring cleaning discount, so you can save 10% when you book your spring or summer projects. Don’t wait until your graduation ceremony is around the corner to start planning your commercial cleaning and event coordination services. Contact us today to get the ball rolling, hire a team of experts, and get your facility in tip-top shape before your next big event.